1. On the internet EVERYONE shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards offhand and NEVER fail to put the bullet where it belongs when taking game,
I try to stay around an inch and so far I have never failed to put a .270 bullet where it belonged. If I didn't feel that I had a good shot I didn't take it and have passed on more than a few elk.
2. No one has EVER wounded an animal or had one get away (that they'll admit to).
So far only one with a 7mm Rem Mag and one with a bow. Made me sick and I / we searched for days to try to find them to no avail.
3. ALL hunters that use "standard cartridges" (whether the author or not) are crack shots and ALWAYS put their shots right thru the heart and lungs; whereas all hunters that use "magnum cartridges" are ALL afraid and inept with their rifles and ALWAYS hit their animals in the guts.
Usually right through the heart and lungs,
but I have put known to put it through the liver and lung and have put a few through shoulders and briscuit too. I wouldn't say that all magnum shooters are inept at all but some certainly are and think that a bigger and faster bullet is somehow a magic remedy for not knowing your rifle and load. Just as some "standard" shooters are just as inept.
4. All hunter that use "magnum cartridges" couldn't shoot "standard cartridges" well so they decided to remedy the problem by shooting magnums.
Not all or even most but some do.
5. Elk are merely large deer. Since all elk patiently pose broadside to the hunter, any taking of quartering, head on, or straight away, or raking shots is a sure sign of an unskilled or unethical hunter and the idea of using a larger rifle to be able to accommodate such shots successfully is sacriledge.
Would never say that elk are just big deer and "pose" for a shot. I would and have taken all of those with the .270 and good bullets except for the straight away shot but I wouldn't take that shot with a .416 Rigby. All but one went all the way through and resulted in a short, well identified, tracking job.
6. 50% of those who will comment on a rifles or hunting for elk thread have NEVER set foot in elk country with a loaded rifle in their hands.
Guess I don't fall into this 50% of people. Probably not as long as you and some others but certainly long enough but you are right.
The .270 used to be a bad choice for elk twenty or thirty years ago but with the bullets available today, like the Barnes, TBBC, Failsafe and other super bullets, it is every bit as effective as some of the magnums were back then. Can you take a 500 yard shot on a 1000 pound bull like you could with a ultra mag? No, of course not. would i ever reccomend using a 130 grain "deer" bullet? Never. But. inside of 300 yards or so and with a bullet designed for the task at hand it will take elk down with all the authority needed and some to spare.
Basically IMO, a big bullet won't ever make up for a shooter that does not have the ability to shoot his or her rifle or one that does not have the dicipline to take a high percentage shot or pass when they do not have a high percentage shot. No matter what the cartridge a hunter still needs to have a bit of self dicipline when hunting elk or any animal.
This horse has been beat a dozen times over and it seems the thread starters never search the old theads but just hang it out there to be answered again and again. Meanwhile lots of us get a little tired of writing an encyclopedia each time to fully address it .............................You'll only have to wait a few weeks, then we get to do it all again!
You got that right.
Maybe the mods could combine a few of these threads and post it to the top of this message board???? Whatcha say mods???????
[8D]